It doesn't make obvious economic sense. Most costs of an airfield are fixed costs. If you shot down 1/7 and lay off the workforce (unpaid) you save 1/7 of the payroll but that will be a lot less than 1/7 of the fixed costs, and you will also probably lose 1/7 of customer enquiries (nobody taking phone calls) which will impact the income whose gross margin finances the fixed costs in the first place.
They would have been better off doing an advertising campaign in the local press, appealing to all those (apparently many) 50+ men who have 'learning to fly' on their 'to do before I die' list.
You never shrink your way to success.